Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference Additional Activities
May 16, 2006. 19:00. An activity in memory of people who lost their lives to AIDS.
A group of people living with HIV proposed and organized this activity especially for the participants of this conference. This activity will encourage people from Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as our colleagues from the West to remember those who are no longer with us and to think what we can do to save the lives of those we care for.
We have asked the participants of the conference to bring a number of candles from their respective countries. They will exchange candles with other participants. On the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day on May 21, when we are all back home, we will light up the candles that we will have received from India, the US, Australia, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Thailand, Uzbekistan...
AIDS Foundation East-West Photo Exhibition
AFEW: Giving Hope to Many
The exhibition houses the work of AFEW specialists in Russia and Central Asia, and attempts to show, through artistic means, the people affected by HIV: both those who need help and those who provide it.
The photographers exhibited are Adrian Becker and Liza Shurik. The photos of Adrian Becker, a well-known Dutch photographer, show the lives of vulnerable groups in Central Asia – i.e. injecting drug users, commercial sex workers, patients from AIDS centers and tuberculosis clinics, and prisoners.
AFEW staff member Liza Shurik – an American of Russian descent – has a degree in photography and is the laureate of prestigious student photo contests in the U.S. She chose a difficult topic for her photo session: the life of an HIV-positive girl in a Russian province.
Photo Exhibition of SHAGI Movement 'Our Faces - Our Names'
A Photo Exhibition of the SHAGI Public Charity Foundation Against AIDS and the Public Movement of People Living With HIV/AIDS The stand presents a few photographs of people living with HIV/AIDS who have agreed to open their faces. There are not many of them. This is exactly why this project is so important to us. The more public figures get involved and help us to fight against stigmatization, the more HIV-positive people will open their faces. They will no longer be afraid. They will become fulfilled members of the society.
Photo Exhibition of PLWH 'My Positive Life'
Best photos of the contest organized by the web site for PLWH www.poz.ru will be displayed in the Lounge for PLWH. The contest tool place this spring on the eve of EECAAC.
Painting
My century, my beast
Who dares to look into your eyes?
And glues with his own blood
The bones of times?
In this tragic line of his poem My Century Osip Mandelstam reflects on the challenge that the time we live in poses to us. There is no getting away from it. Sooner or later each of us has to accept the challenge that is consonant with the motto of this conference. Who are we? What are the meaning and purpose of our lives? What can we do?
Mandelstam wrote this poem in the early XX century. What form the XXI century takes – depend on us. The vertebrae placed along the DNA axes symbolizes that a human being is a part of a whole. The functioning of each of the links of this chain affects the functioning of the whole system. This idea is translated into the language of modern art. This image reflects the value of EVERY human life.
We encourage you to use bright warm colors to convey our hope that we will be able to avoid the errors of the past and to make sure that our century is the century of humanism and prosperity.
On this canvas DNA is woven into the Moebius ribbon. The Moebius ribbon symbolizes the infinity. It folds the external and the internal sides into a unique surface. The intersection of external and internal planes symbolizes a continuous change, like that of day and night. Please select a spot and apply a brush stroke to the canvas. It's YOU
Quilt Exhibition
A quilt is a patchwork blanket made of a number of layers of fabric, all stitched firmly together. Family and friends make their quilts and dedicate them to people who lost their lives to AIDS. One patch is stitched to another one. All together they make a long colourful blanket that displays personal belongings and collages featuring a person that we have lost. The Quilt Memorial Exhibition travels the world to attract public attention to HIV/AIDS and to encourage a tolerant attitude toward people living with HIV. In the Quilt Room you will learn how you can make a personal contribution to the exhibition. The organizers will welcome any materials (personal belongings) that you will bring along to create your own personal patchwork.
Throughout the conference PSAs from all CIS states will be shown on the second and the third floor. PSAs will be shown during the coffee breaks. This will give you an opportunity to learn about the experience of your colleagues from different countries while you are enjoying a rest. Please contact the organizers of the conference if you would like to learn more about these PSAs. |
